The New Orleans Pelicans will travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to face the Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum Center on Friday evening with the game scheduled to start at 7:00 PM ET and will air on Bally Sports Charlotte and Bally Sports New Orleans.

 

New Orleans enters this game in 9^th place in the Western Conference with a record of 14-11 and is on a two-game winning streak following a 142-122 win on the road against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. The Pelicans have been a slightly above-average scoring team this season as they are averaging 114.92 points per game. Brandon Ingram has been one of the leaders offensively for New Orleans as he enters this game leading the team in scoring with an average of 23.6 points per game.

 

Defensively, the Pelicans have also been slightly above average as they are allowing an average of 114.24 points per game. The New Orleans Pelicans will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they travel to face the Charlotte Hornets.

The Charlotte Hornets are in 13^th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 7-15 while losing four of their last five games and are on a two-game losing streak following a 104-115 loss on the road against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Charlotte is allowing the 5^th most points per game in the league with an average of 120.77 points per game and has also been one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NBA as they are averaging 113 points per game.

 

Charlotte has been decimated by injuries this season as LaMelo Ball has missed the last seven games for the Hornets and their top three players on offense have missed multiple games with LaMelo Ball having missed seven games, Terry Rozier having missed nine games, and Miles Bridges having missed ten games. The Hornets will look to snap their two-game losing streak when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday evening.

 

BookMaker has the New Orleans Pelicans listed as 6.5-point favorites on the road against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday evening. New Orleans has won six of the last ten and two of the last three meetings while going 6-4 ATS in the last ten and covering the spread in three straight games in the series.

 

The New Orleans Pelicans are 15-9-1 ATS overall, 5-5-1 ATS on the road, and 6-5 ATS as a favorite this season while the Charlotte Hornets are 9-13 ATS overall, 5-7 ATS at home, and 9-10 ATS as an underdog on the year.

 

New Orleans is the better team this season and has been the better team in the series, winning six of the last ten and two of the last three matchups. The Pelicans have also been the better team at covering the spread as they are 6-4 ATS in the last ten and have covered the spread in three straight games in the series while also being the better team at covering the spread this season with a record of 15-9-1 ATS overall while the Hornets are 9-13 ATS overall. As a result, I am buying the .5 point and laying the points with the New Orleans Pelicans when they travel to face the Charlotte Hornets.